Wii U

[Twig]

What are your thoughts about Nintendo's new console?

I feel it has potential, but the Wii to me felt very gimmicky. I'm hoping the Wii U will have more online gaming support. I'm wondering about the price, the XBOX 360 and PS3 have both dropped in price this past year, and I'm wondering how Nintendo will compete with the $199 XBOX 360 price point.

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[randomcouchpotato]

I feel like nintendo ran out of ideas so they took their most recent consoles and put them together to make this. It will be interesting to see what they do with this console.

[randomspot555]

Yeah, the Wii was gimmicky, but it paid off.

As for the "price drops" in the non-competing consoles, didn't the 360 only become so cheap because they took off a lot that originally came with the console?

I HATE the "ran out of ideas" talking point, because it's someone trying to project THEIR opinion onto a lot of others. It comes across as "pfft, I could've done better"

Back on topic, I like the looks, though I didn't read over any of the specs. I haven't used my Wii too much, but I've never been much of a home-console kind of guy in the first place.

[Poryhack]

didn't the 360 only become so cheap because they took off a lot that originally came with the console?

I have an older 360 and my friend has a newer (black) one. If anything mine is the one lacking. Built-in wifi and optical audio out are two of the standout differences.

[randomspot555]

I mean specifically the cheap, $200 or 150 version. The big difference, at least my understanding, is that it has a very small internal hard drive, compared to the standard 250 gig one.

[Twig]

With the 3DS being priced at $250, I can't see the Wii U being less than $350. That would be a $150 price difference to the base model Xbox 360, which seems unreasonable considering they have similar specs except for the controller.

The Wii sold well because it targeted casual gamers and kids and was quite a bit cheaper than the PS3 and Xbox 360 at the time. I just can't see the Wii U selling well in the states with the price differential.

[Twig]

This is a post from another forum, and he brings up some good points.

I don't know if anyone's said this but I think it needs to be said: Nintendo screwed the pooch with this thing.

There is nothing that shows that it's significantly superior to either the 360 or the PS3. Given Nintendo's history of playing it safe with hardware, it's a safe assumption that it isn't. And if that's true, what incentive does the hardcore have to picking this up beyond Nintendo's first party offerings? Most people who consider themselves serious gamers already have a decent PC, or a 360, or a PS3, or some combination of those. That leaves the casual market. Are they really going to want to buy another console? Most people just played WiiSports and that's it. That's not taking into consideration the price, which is still unknown. Conservative estimates would put it easily at $350-$400 especially with that big ass controller.

Another thing about the hardcore, unless Nintendo starts paying for special content, the install base at launch is not going to be enough for most developers to justify adding special content to make use of the controller on third party games.

And finally, Nintendo is releasing this next year, a year that most people expect announcements from at least Microsoft regarding new consoles. As soon as those new consoles are released, the Wii U is going to be severely outclassed, which puts it right back where the Wii is: ignored by most third parties except for shovelware.

[Guested]

I don't think those are good points at all. Purely speculative.

Has he SEEN the response of third party developers ALREADY?

[Twig]

I don't think those are good points at all. Purely speculative.

Has he SEEN the response of third party developers ALREADY?

I think they are valid points. Developers would have to include support for the touchpad that would be exclusive for the Wii U, adding to this developers would have to port their games to a system that will initially not have nearly as large customer base as the PS3 and 360 do. I hope the Wii U will do well so I can replace my 360 with it, but I have my doubts this works out.

[randomspot555]

I think they are valid points. Developers would have to include support for the touchpad that would be exclusive for the Wii U, adding to this developers would have to port their games to a system that will initially not have nearly as large customer base as the PS3 and 360 do. I hope the Wii U will do well so I can replace my 360 with it, but I have my doubts this works out.

I don't think the Wii U is meant as a replacement for your 360.

[Guested]

I think they are valid points. Developers would have to include support for the touchpad that would be exclusive for the Wii U, adding to this developers would have to port their games to a system that will initially not have nearly as large customer base as the PS3 and 360 do. I hope the Wii U will do well so I can replace my 360 with it, but I have my doubts this works out.

Okay.... now I ask you.

Have YOU seen the response of third party developers so far? They're all excited as hell. I don't think they're going to look at the touch screen or the rest of the features as a chore, but rather an opportunity to make a game experience more unique than just two analog sticks.

[Twig]

Okay.... now I ask you.

Have YOU seen the response of third party developers so far? They're all excited as hell. I don't think they're going to look at the touch screen or the rest of the features as a chore, but rather an opportunity to make a game experience more unique than just two analog sticks.

I hope your right Guested. These are the third party games currently slated for release.

Darksiders 2

Batman: Arkham City

"Tekken"

Assassin's Creed

Lego City Stories

Ghost Recon Online

DiRT

Aliens: Colonial Marines

Metro: Last Light

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge

EA CEO John Riccitiello also pledged support for the Wii U: a brief montage hinted at Battlefield and Army of Two for the new console.

I stumbled across this article (it's a blog so take it for what it's worth) it states Nintendo will adapt an online approach similar to XBOX Live, although no mention of pricing.

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2011/06/09/wii-u-gets-gamertag-and-friends-list-for-online-gaming-no-more-annoying-wii-friend-codes.htm

[steffie2]

I didn't feel the Wii was gimmicky. Once I got used to the controls, I thought they were really comfortable and easy to use. Not having to hold the controller in the typical two handed manner made it more relaxing combined with the motion control was really nice. NOT that I mind regular controllers, it was just different and good. Sadly, there weren't a lot of RPG games that I wanted for the Wii. Lack of third party support in that genre was very disappointing.

That being said, I feel that there's a lot of potential with the Wii U. I hope all those third parties follow through and bring some good games to the table. The downside is that it's back to a two handed controller experience. Still, it looks really interesting and I can't wait to see the finished product.

[Lorshinator]

I'm more of an Nintendo Person, because the 360/PS3 are running rampant with copy/paste shooters/etc, and games that feel to similar to one another and I feel like some companies aren't trying to hard. That's just me, and I personally do like the 360, simply not the common shooters.

I don't honestly think much of the Wii's controls, yet I don't have many games lol. I honestly thought it was kinda a gimmick, and I honestly don't know what to think of the touch screen idea. It shows promise, and many unique/more original ideas for games with innovative controls may come in. Meaning, it shows promise for what may be in store than your typical analog shooter or whatnot.

The graphics apparently superior or meets that of the other consoles, which, for graphic nuts, is a good thing. However, there may be less action games... I dunno. Overall, shows promise, looking forward to it.

[VideoGamePhenom]

The Nintendo Wii U is said to be released on November 18, 2011. It is priced at around $300. By the way, it comes in two different styles. The 8GB version is $300 while the 32GB version deluxe bundle with Nintendo Land is $350. Just save your money and wait till the holidays to see if you can snag one of these consoles. One of the top Wii U games would be the New Super Mario Bros U. All top-notch Wii U games will be sold at around $60 a piece.

[TeamRocketCollector]

Problem with that is that the Wii U was in back-order within 48-72 hours of its pre-orders being released. Best Buy and GameStop quickly ran out of the 32gb. I had to get mine from Toys'R'Us.com Thankfully I wasn't too late. As I'm sure most of you know, this was an ingenious move on Nintendo's part. They made limited quantity to build up hype. As soon as it was on back-order, people were like "WOW it must be excellent if it sold out so quickly I must get one!". They even go as much as to trade their PS3 or Xbox 360, etc. to rack up in-store credit to buy it with. It may be difficult to acquire this holiday season as was the Wii when it first came out. Whether this will be the case is still uncertain. Good luck to all of you who wish to get one!